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At least be smart about it


Necro

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I have no issue with people disagreeing with me.

 

I have no issue with people expressing an opinion that runs counter to one I believe firmly.

I do make an exception to this for opinions that are genuinely harmful - for example, I don't care how respectfully you go about phrasing it, I am going to lose every ounce of respect I can place in you if you try to convince me that vaccines are bad, and I don't care what they're like/interested in/etc., it's never okay to bully someone - but for most subjects I'm willing to hear someone I disagree with out, even if I know from the get-go I will disagree.

 

But please, for the love of all that is good and decent in this world, at least be smart about how you phrase your argument. Don't use ad hominem. Don't refuse to acknowledge a completely reasonable and rational statement by your opponent. Don't create this complete "us vs. them" mentality when the entire point of intelligent conversation is a mutual understanding, emphasis on mutual. Don't talk down and try to belittle your opponent, even if they're resorting to such grade school tactics themselves. Don't go into the argument looking specifically to make a scene.

 

Barring genuinely harmful beliefs, I have no problem with opinions being expressed even if I think they're completely stupid and dumb. Just don't be stupid about how you express them. Please. Few things make me more furious than a clearly intelligent person with something to say that says it in a dimwitted fashion and ruins their entire argument because of it.

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As far as calling people out on the blogs far away from any relevant discussion go, this was kind of a weak one.

 

-Tyler

 

...I made this in response to an argument two of my friends had over dinner where I agreed with one of them, but he was being such a doofus about it, I ended up siding with the one I disagreed with because it was over a minor thing and I'm not interested in belittling someone I've known since 8th grade.

 

I'm not sure what you're referring to?

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I'm afraid this entry was poorly timed mate, there's a giant argument going on in the other part of the site so it could be taken the wrong way. Actually it already has, so yeah.

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Admittedly this was just stupidity on my part; I had actually heard about that argument via a different website, and for whatever reason I was not savvy enough to connect the dots or realize how easily this could be misconstrued until you two pointed it out. Apologies for any confusion or anger, again, this was written about something that I experienced in real-life, not anything on here or anyone on here, and I take the blame on this one.

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Putting all that aside, I feel the need to agree with this. Having some etiquette and respecting others when presenting arguments is very important, and I support the point you were making completely.

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